


Javu's

by vastlyuntalented



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, Blowjobs, Drinking, Fluff, Homophobic Slurs, M/M, Masturbation, NSFW, Power Dynamics, Public Masturbation, Public Sex, Reddie, Semi-Public Sex, Sexual Tension, Smut, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, Teasing, Vomit, Wet Dream, Y'all know what I mean, caught masturbating, chef!eddie, double dates, is that even a real tag, placebo asthma, restaurant AU, this is partially inspired by friends, waiter!richie, well he thinks he's been caught
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-12-31 00:55:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21026810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vastlyuntalented/pseuds/vastlyuntalented
Summary: Richie stared down into Eddie's greyish-blue eyes that seemed to sparkle back up at him. They were soft, pure and wise, like an old black-and-white film about ancient greek mythology. Richie had never sat still to listen to a teacher in his entire 13 years of school, but god he knew if Eddie was talking he'd get hooked on every word. Staring into those eyes he felt like he was already learning more than the shitty American Education System had ever taught him about emotions and love, and although Richie wasn't ready to admit to himself or anyone how quickly he'd fallen for Eddie, deep down it waslovehe was feeling.(a fic where eddie is a head chef and richie is a flirty waiter trying to make it in the city)





	1. Chef K

Moving to the city was one of the biggest choices Richie had ever made. To leave his tiny little town in Maine in search of a brighter future was the most stunningly terrifying things he'd ever done, but he couldn't regret it for a second. His parents had paid for his first two months rent in a tiny shoe-box apartment on the 6th floor of a crappy, beat-up New York apartment complex while he got settled with his job and whatnot, and Richie was grateful for them. Saying goodbye to the two of them had been difficult, and he would never admit to anyone how much he cried on the plane after their farewells at the airport (that secret was only for him and the bald business man who had the unfortunate luck of sitting next to him). But now, up in his tiny home with his two bags of luggage, Richie couldn't have been more excited. He'd already secured a job as a waiter down at "Javu's", a fancy restaurant a couple blocks from his building, and his first shift was tomorrow night. Granted, Richie's dream job wasn't "Waiter At Random Restaurant", but it was good money while he was still figuring himself out in the commotion of the city, so as he laid in this sleeping bag on the floor of his bare new home, he smiled.

The next morning, Richie grabbed coffee and headed to the closest furniture store, which happened to be a Pottery Barn, and he started picking out any sort of dressers or tables that would fit into his new little life. After spending about $1500 dollars on a bed he was fairly certain would fit in the room, he asked it be delivered tomorrow, and ran home to shower for his first shift at Javu's.

Dressed in an awkward tux he had no right to be wearing, Richie stepped into the restaurant and walked up to the restaurant's greeter.  
"Hi, um, my name's Richard, I'm supposed to be starting today?" A snap of knowledge flashed in the girl's brown eyes and she held out her hand.

"Beverly Marsh, but you can call me Bev. I manage the wait staff here." Richie took her hand, noticing how soft it was as he shook it carefully.

"Richard Tozier, but you can call me Richie." He grinned his idiot grin at her and she smirked back, knowing she was going to get along well with this one.

"The rest of the wait staff aren't here for the dinner shift yet, I thought I'd get you in early and set you up with everything before we dive straight in. I'll quickly introduce you to the kitchen, but Chef K doesn't like to be interrupted." Richie giggled at her comment as Bev started to walk towards the push door that lead into the back of house, where a cacophony of sizzles, chops, scrapes, bangs from pots and pans and every other sound you could imagine coming from a kitchen poured past the doors as they entered. "Eddie!" Richie followed Bev's gaze to a man towards the right wearing the big white head-chef hat, staring expertly down at an onion he was chopping at lightning speed. He made absolutely no movement to show that he had heard Bev, but instead scraped the onion into the simmering pot beside him and began chopping a second onion. Richie heard Bev tut beside him, before calling out "CHEF!" in a much louder voice. Immediately, much like a trained dog, the man's head shot up in their direction. He rolled his eyes and set his knife down on the counter, wiping his hands on a tea towel he had kept beside him, and strode over with the angriest vigour Richie had ever seen a single human walk with.

"What do you want Marsh, I'm in the middle of prep."

"Eddie-"

"Chef, in the kitchen Beverly."

"Something different in bed I assume?" Richie felt his mouth moving before he could stop it, and winced slightly at the way the chef's head immediately snapped to stare at him as if he'd just set the kitchen on fire.

"Who are you?" The demanding tone rang in Richie's ears as he instinctively held out his hand.

"Richie Tozier, I'm your new sexiest waiter." He winked jokingly, flexing his fingers as a way of implying that his hand should, in fact, be shaken. The chef glared down at it like it was the most rancid thing he'd ever laid eyes on.

"I don't shake hands, it's dirty. I don't have germs in my kitchen, which is why you should leave." Richie loosely retracted his hand and let it hang by his side casually, enjoying the banter between the two of them.

"I just brought Richie in here so you could introduce him to the kitchen staff, starting with **yourself.**" He could feel the way Bev's eyes must have been burning into the chef, as he sighed and looked back to Richie.

"My name is Edward Kaspbrak, but you can call me 'Chef' or 'Chef K' in the kitchen. Understood?"

"Yes Chef." Richie drew out the words so they sounded more sexual than they needed to be, and Edward (Eddie? Eds? The nicknames were endless. Edd-less) rolled his eyes.

"This is my Sous Chef Stanley, you can call him Stan-" Eddie watched as Richie made a move to introduce himself to the busy chef, watching over a couple pans on the stove. "-do **not** interrupt him while he's working, you twat. Back in the corner there is my kitchen-hand Ben, he's the guy you want to talk to about cutlery and any sort of dishes you may need. Other than those two, you shouldn't need to bother any of the rest of my kitchen staff, so I won't waste time introducing them-" Bev shot him a warning look.

"Eddie-"

"-Nor will I waste any more of my time letting you stand uselessly in the middle of my kitchen. Goodbye Richie." Eddie turned on his heel and returned to the station he was at originally, and continued cutting his onion as if nothing had even happened. Bev grabbed Richie's wrist and lead him straight out of the kitchen as quickly as her legs could carry her, and stopped him outside the door.

"Alright, was it just me, or was Chef K kind of hot?" Bev laughed at his comment, immediately regaining his confidence after Eddie had stepped on it a little there. Something about Eddie made Richie's skin tingle, like the first time he ate a Warhead, only this time he felt floaty and high instead of like he should cut his own tongue off.

"Hot under the collar. You're lucky I manage the wait staff here and not him, I recon you'd be fired by now if that were the case." Bev's laugh was infectious, and soon Richie was giggling too.

"He couldn't bare to watch such a pretty face go now could he?" Richie flicked his curls behind his ear, their laughter growing louder. Bev hit him lightly on the shoulder playfully.

"Alright stop it, I have to actually teach you something or else I'm paying you for nothing."

"Lead the way, my dearest." Richie held out his arm towards the floor and Bev strode out towards one of the tables and got to work.


	2. Pretty Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god bless u guys for reading this, it made my day honestly. please enjoy another chapter!!!!

Eddie hadn't always known what he wanted to be when he grew up, but he did know one thing: he was good at being bossy. He knew how to get people to do what he wanted, when he wanted it, and he wasn't afraid to be loud about it. When Eddie's seventh grade technology teacher suggested working in a restaurant, he had dismissed it at the time, immediately deciding he would crack under the pressure of the environment, not to mention how many diseases you can catch from an unclean kitchen. But as Eddie mulled it over and as the weeks went by, he saw more of an appeal in the job, until he found he was obsessed with the idea of being head chef somewhere far from Derry, where food was actually good, and people knew what they were doing. Fresh out of high school he got his apprenticeship at the local burger joint, whilst teaching himself the general points of cooking and kitchen-standard cleaning along the way, since all old Barbara seemed to know was how to cook a steak medium-rare. But the experience was useful, and he quickly climbed the ranks for 3 years until he was offered head chef at Javu's in New York. He had cried when he'd gotten the news and immediately accepted, moving as soon as possible to get started. The city was much quicker than the stuff he'd dealt with in the country towns he'd worked in, but Eddie was a fast learner and caught on easily just by being his usual bossy self. He'd never seen a hiccup or a misplaced napkin in his kitchen, until he met Richie Tozier. If Eddie had seen this man in a pub, he probably would have approached him; complimented his glasses, laughed at his jokes. But the kitchen was a completely different world for Eddie, so when this curly-haired klutz stepped foot on his shimmery white floor, and introduced himself with an inappropriately sexual joke, he felt himself boil with rage. After angrily introducing him to Stan and Ben, he all but pushed them out the door so he could go back to his job.

"Damn Chef, I've never seen you lay into a new kid so hard before. You good?" Eddie was hyperaware that he was chopping his onion with completely new energy, almost missing the vegetable a couple times.

"Yes, I'm fine. Watch your chicken or it'll burn." Eddie hadn't bothered to look up and see that the meat in the pan was, in fact, beef, and Stan giggled to himself. "What, Uris?" Eddie concentrated on chopping, dicing, anything to distract himself from Stan's judgemental demeanour.

"Oh, I just think someone's got a little boy crush on the new waiter." Eddie immediately stopped cutting to glare up at his second in command.

"What? No, I don't. I don't have time for crushes or waiters or curly black hair-" Stan raised his eyebrow at this. "-I have a job to do here and I'm too busy to get distracted by something as trivial as romance." Eddie looked down and kept cutting his onions, as if onions were the only thing left in the world that existed. Stan seemed to notice that Eddie was a bit riled up over this, so he dismissed the conversation with a soft "Whatever you say" under his breath and kept working.

They cooked comfortably through the afternoon and soon people started to file it, and the kitchen started getting orders. All the orders were digital now, so the only interaction the wait staff had with the kitchen was collecting meals and registering complaints, but complaints here were rare (something Eddie prided himself on). Eddie was loitering around the meal counter, making sure meals got out as quickly as possible. The bell that sat on the desk rang at least 4 times before Richie showed up, completely nonchalant.

"Where were you? I've been trying to get this dish out for the last decade." Eddie snapped, glaring through the small window at Richie.

"Sorry boss, just getting friendly with the customers. Turns out I'm a pretty cool dude." Richie was smirking at him as the leaned over to grab the plate from the counter. 

"Well you're here to do a job, don't forget that _pretty boy._ And it's Chef, not boss." Richie hummed deeply in the bottom of his throat, an almost animalistic sound.

"Mmm, yes Chef." He bit his lip, turning and swaying his hips as he left the kitchen space to deliver the plate. Eddie felt his cheeks go bright red as he watched the waiter strut away. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the way Richie swung his hips effortlessly, sexually, back and forth, and was pulled out of his haze by Stan, punching him in the arm. 

"Distracted Chef?" Eddie snapped back to him, trying to upkeep his façade, but he knew the flush on his cheeks was too hot not to be noticed. 

"Why did he do that? Doesn't he realise this is a professional environment?" Stan chuckled, moving some meat along to be cut and plated. 

"Well you started it. Did you think you could call him 'pretty boy' and get away with it?" 

"What? He called himself that, I was being sarcastic." 

"No, he called himself a 'pretty cool dude'. You're the one who called him 'pretty boy'." Eddie felt his face flush as he realised his mistake. He had said pretty cool dude. And Eddie had called him pretty boy. And Richie had flirted straight back at him without missing a beat. 

"God what is wrong with me?" Stan actually laughed out at this comment, pausing to look up at Eddie.

"You're just smitten, that's all. Now get back to your job idiot." Eddie rolled his eyes and started heading back around the kitchen. 

"Yes Chef."

The rest of the night went by relatively easily, the kitchen running smoothly under Eddie's watchful gaze. He only had to see Richie a couple more times that night, and without fail, every time they made eye contact, Richie would wink back at him, or bite on his lip, or pull some sexual face that would make Eddie's whole body tingle thinking about how he could get Richie to pull that face from under him. At the end of the night it was Eddie and Stan left in the kitchen wiping up the counters, and Bev and Richie left on the floor as Beverly walked Richie through how to lock everything up. Eddie and Stan always drove each other home since they lived so close together, so as they exited the kitchen together they passed Bev and Richie standing over at the windows. Beverly was struggling to show Richie the correct way to pull the blinds down.

"Bye Bev!" Stan called out, hand already on the door. 

"Bye boys! See you tomorrow!" She waved cheerfully and grinned at them.

"Bye Bev- Oh, I almost forgot." Eddie left his spot next to Stan and jogged up to the window where Bev and Richie were stood. "I need your number." He held out his phone expectantly to Richie, a new contact screen on it, who smirked and took it from him.

"My pleasure, Chef. A bit more forward than I was expecting you to be, but I'm flattered nonetheless." Richie giggled and clicked in his details, handing it back to Eddie. He snatched the phone from Richie's soft - so soft - fingers and shoved it in his pocket.

"It's for work asshole, I'll add you to the group chat." Something that almost resembled disappointment sparked behind Richie's eyes before he quickly moved on.

"What happened to pretty boy, spaghetti man?" 

"What happened to Chef in the work environment, asshole?"

"It's after hours and I'm not being paid, so I'll call you whatever I want to, _spaghetti man._" Eddie hadn't realised how close the two of them had gotten until Richie was practically whispering those last words against his lips. He let out a shaky breath as he turned on his heel and stalked towards the door. "See you tomorrow spaghetti man!" Eddie flipped the other boy off without even turning to look at him and pushed Stan out the door towards the car park, who was practically in stitches over the whole thing. 

"Don't say a fucking word Stan." Eddie knew the threat was redundant, since Stan was laughing so hard he was barely letting out noise anymore. They eventually made it to Stan's car, unlocking the doors Eddie climbed into the passenger seat and immediately busied himself with his phone. The first thing he saw when he unlocked it was the contact Richie had made for himself:

"pretty boy 💖🌸💋" 

Eddie scoffed and locked his phone, opting instead to stare out the window at the city skyline, ignoring the fluttery feeling in his heart as he held his phone closer.


	3. Bottletop Bill's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i took the name "bottletop bill's" from a kids tv show i used to watch all the time. if you've seen it you're a real one

The next few weeks at Javu's went on pretty much the same way; with Richie unabashedly flirting, and Eddie aggressively swatting every comment away. The group chat had also become a mess since Eddie had added Richie, resulting in an abundance of gifs and something called 'business fish' that Richie seemed to be obsessed with, it was almost impossible to organise a staff meeting anymore. This boy was simultaneously the most annoying and most charming person Eddie had ever met, but he wasn't sure he'd ever admit that, not even to Stan.

It was about 12pm and Eddie was about to head into work when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

_**CHAT:** Jerks à la Javu_

**pretty boy:** drinks 2nite aftr work?  
**redhead:** yeah i'm in, but only if ben comes.  
**handsome:** Sure, I'm free  
**pretty boy:** sik, ive bn dyin to go to this nw bar acrss twn  
**Chef™️:** You know, it isn't endearing or funny when you type like that. I think it's giving me a brain tumour tbh.  
**pretty boy:** u lv me ;)  
**Chef™️:** I definitely don't.  
**the man:** Geez get a room. I'll be there, send the address  
**Chef™️:** Is it alright if I invite Mike?  
**pretty boy:** th füd delivry guy? y hes chl  
**Chef™️:** Wouldn't it have been faster to just type 'food'??  
**pretty boy:** mayb. bût thätś ñót fùńñÿ  
**the man:** Do I need to repeat myself? Bicker somewhere else you Agapornises  
**redhead:** shut up stan this is too funny  
**pretty boy:** did u say porn??  
**Chef™️:** Piss off Bev. See you lot at close.

Eddie locked his phone and shoved it in his pocket, not daring to give it a second glance as he scooped up his keys and headed straight for the door. He'd never been in a social situation outside of work with Richie before, and was slightly nervous to see that side of him, especially since they were going to a bar. Alcohol lowers the control you have over yourself, and Eddie wasn't sure he was comfortable enough around Richie yet to let loose. Sure, they'd become good at the banter, but Eddie knew the banter was a little too good, and sometimes the eye contact was a little too intoxicating, and that being drunk around such a pretty boy could lead somewhere new. Pushing the thought from his mind, he left his apartment, keys in hand, and headed for Javu's.

The night went quickly and the 5 of them who had bothered to read the chat plus Mike headed over to "Bottletop Bill's", which ended up being a pretty stereotypical bar set. Eddie was more surprised Richie hadn't walked them straight into a night club, so he was glad to sit down in a booth around some beers and talk. Eddie being one of the smaller and more agile ones idiotically agreed to sit against the wall, which left him squished between it and Richie, who somehow already smelt like beer and cigarettes. Eddie wondered if he always smelt like that, or if it was just from being here, but he liked it nonetheless. 

The conversation started easily enough, with Richie quizzing pretty much everyone on every aspect of their lives in an attempt to get to know them better, and Eddie found himself learning new stuff about the group around the table he was surprised he didn't already know. For example, as a child Ben was overweight.

"Is that why you work in a kitchen big man?" Had been Richie's immediate response, to which Ben chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"No, being a kitchen hand is my second job. I'm actually working to become an architect." 

"Ooh, brains and brawn! Giving me a hard on just lookin at'cha." Richie kicked Ben lightly under the table and everyone giggled at Richie's remark, Bev's hand closing down on Ben's forearm.

"Get your own man, Tozier. Pretty sure shortie's got his eyes on you anyway." Bev cocked her head towards Eddie and he felt his cheeks flush lightly.

"How many times do I have to tell you to piss off before you two stop teasing me?" His eyes shifted between Stan and Bev, avoiding directly addressing any feelings towards Richie.

"Do you like being teased Eddie?" Again, the trashmouth's tongue moved faster than his brain, and the words were out in the air for everyone to see. No one laughed, or cringed, no reactions were made. It was more of an awkward silence as they looked between Richie and Eddie, unsure of what to expect. Eddie could feel how red his face was and stood up from his seat.

"Move out asshole I need another drink." Mike and Richie both quietly shuffled out of the booth as Eddie stalked over to the bar, refusing to look back at those losers. He ordered a shot and another beer from the nice guy behind the bar (who ironically was also named Bill). Immediately, he threw the shot down, then quickly grabbed the beer and sighed. He needed the extra alcohol if he was actually going to make it through the night; he hadn't realised how hard they were all gonna go in on it until now. He turned to walk back to the table and almost slipped when he saw Richie standing directly behind him. "Jesus Christ Rich, you scared the shit out of me. The fuck are you doing?"

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable back there. I just like those sorts of jokes, but sometimes my mouth moves faster than I can think and I say things that make people upset and I don't want to upset you I-"

"Yes, Rich, I'm fine." This was the first time Eddie had ever seen Richie so out of his element, and almost instinctively interrupted him to get the upper hand. "It was just unexpected is all. I'm a big boy, I can handle a sexy joke or two." Eddie was now leaned comfortably against the bar. "Have another beer and chill out babe." Oh no. That shot had gone straight to his head. Did he really just say babe? Richie raised an eyebrow, never breaking eye contact.

_"Yes Chef."_ He'd heard that phrase a million times a day, a billion times a week, but when it rolled of Richie's tongue like that in the middle of this crowded bar, it made Eddie's hair stand on end. He leaned past Eddie, putting their bodies awkwardly together, and ordered a third beer over Eddie's shoulder. He could essentially taste the cigarette smoke coming off Richie's worn leather jacket, when he moved back and stared down at Eddie with new light behind his eyes. He could feel his heart rate pick up, knew he was bright pink as he met Richie's gaze. 

"You know, you don't have to call me Chef outside the kitchen." Eddie all but stumbled through the sentence, trying to sound as calm as possible as he said it. 

"I know," Richie's voice was like smooth caramel against Eddie's ears, rich and confident. "But I like the way it sounds, and I think you do too." Richie smirked down at Eddie, and without thinking, leaned down and placed a slow, soft kiss on the corner of Eddie's jaw, sending a chill down his spine at the unexpected touch. "You never answered my question." The sudden change in tone shocked Eddie.

"What?"

"My question. Do you like being teased?" He couldn't tell if there was real chemistry here or if it was just the alcohol, or if they were both just weirdly horny, but he knew he wanted to feel Richie's stubble against his ear again, just one more time. A sudden rush of confidence washed over him as he mirrored Richie's movement and leant up into his ear. Quietly, he whispered,

_"You'll have to find out, won't you pretty boy?"_ and let the words purr out over Richie's eardrums, before grabbing his earlobe between his teeth and dragging them slowly down until there was none left to bite. Eddie heard Richie inhale sharply at the contact, his posture stiffening, as Eddie moved down out of Richie's space. Now it was Eddie's turn to be cocky and confident, so he winked, turned on his heel, and mimicked the sway of his hips as he took his beer back to their booth. He knew Richie was staring at him as he walked away, and Eddie had gained a whole new confidence when he'd sat down again next to Mike, pretending to listen in on the conversation happening around him. 

Richie was wrapped tightly around Eddie's little pinky, and he couldn't be happier about it.


	4. The Restroom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a bit nsfw!! tags r above

Richie stood, completely dumbfounded, at the bar in Bottletop Bill's. He couldn't believe Eddie had actually just done that to him. His dumbfounded expression must have been obvious, because as the bar tender slid his beer across to him, he said "He's cute", which caused Richie to snap out of his haze and look over to him. Richie wanted so badly to say something funny in response; a witty joke about how hard his dick was, but its not really a joke if it's true, is it? Richie wasn't sure if he could comfortably walk back to that table and sit down next to Eddie, being so close to him again would probably make him cream his pants like a teenager. Instead, he turned back around to the bartender and slid the beer back in his direction. 

"Actually, can you hold onto that for me? I have to go to the little boy's room." Before Bill could reply, Richie spun around and headed towards the bathrooms, moving quickly in past a bald white man and pushing himself into a cubicle and locking the door. 

He had to level his head. _What do they say to always think of? Your Grandma? Right, okay. Grandma. Good old Grandma Tozier. Dead grey curly hair, wrinkly skin, blood relative, the premium boner-fighting package._ And yet, no matter how hard he tried to focus on her frail, shaky hands, or her 20s style flower-patterned dresses, his thoughts always floated back to _EddieEddieEddie._ Richie knew there was only one way to solve his problem. He sighed, unbuckling his pants and leaning carefully over the toilet. 

_Alright. Quickly. Quietly._

Richie pulled his erection out of his straining underwear, only half hard, and started to stroke himself. He shut his eyes, thinking about Eddie's eyes, the lustful way he'd stared at him, through him, his teeth on his ear, the way he called him pretty boy, babe, asshole, the sound of his voice against Richie's ear. He imagined Eddie's hand on him, the sweet names he'd call him as he brought him over the edge, encouraging Richie closer and closer. He imagined what Eddie's demanding mouth would feel like, silenced around him, how his hair would feel pulled up in Richie's hands, the sound Eddie would make moaning around his length. He was about to topple over the edge, when he heard the bathroom door open, and quiet voice coo in.

"Richie?" Fuck. It was Eddie. Richie's hand stopped dead. He took a deep, careful breath in.

"Mm?" Was all he could manage without sounding strained or flustered, almost like he'd just been jacking off to the thought of his boss throat-fucking him.

"Are you alright? Bill said you went to the bathroom like 10 minutes ago. I was wondering where you went." Is he actually trying to tease him from outside the toilet? Richie chuckled, the sound coming out scratchy from the back of his throat. 

"Just doin a number two back here, Eds. I'll be out there soon." He could tell his voice didn't sound right, as if he'd just been holding back his moans at the thought of the man on the other side of the door, which he definitely hadn't been.

"Hah, okay, I'll meet you out there then. I miss you already~" Eddie said those last words in the same tone he'd whispered in Richie's ear, and he felt his dick twitch in his hand at the sound of it. He sputtered out an awkward laugh, hearing the door open and shut, and finally letting go the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He stared down at his impossibly hard dick, running the situation over in his head, over and over again. Slowly, he restarted his movement, and came almost immediately straight into the toilet, groaning as he tried to muffle the sound of his orgasm under this free hand. He came down from his high as quickly as he'd arrived, suddenly feeling disgusting and weird having jacked off in a public toilet. He flushed, pulled up his pants, and exited the stall, keeping his head down as he left the bathroom and headed back to the bar.

"Damn, you look like you ran a marathon." Richie peered up at Bill under his glasses, and half-heartedly laughed. 

"Yeah, well, diet hasn't been great lately." He wished he could've had the bathroom to himself, so he could splash some water on his face and tell his reflection to chill out, but apparently unfunny post-orgasm retorts were all his brain could bother to spew out. "Beer?"

"Your cute friend took it back to the table with him when he asked where you went. Are you okay?" Richie smiled over at the oddly genuine bartender, appreciating the tenderness in his voice. 

"Yeah, just a bit hot in here. Thanks though." He pulled a $10 note out of his pocket and slid it across the counter to him. "Keep it, it's yours." Richie pushed off the bar and headed back to the booth, trying to refocus himself enough to join back into casual conversation.

"Welcome back Richie. How was your 30 day hike up Mt Everest?" Beverly teased as Richie slid in next to Eddie, seeing now that it was Mike pressed up against the wall. 

"Har har, try living my life just one day Marsh. You'll see, it's a total tragedy." Richie dramatically threw his hand over his face, which gained a giggle out of the group, and he felt he'd done a good enough job to settle back into his seat and take it easy.

Richie looked over and made eye-contact with Eddie, who quickly averted his gaze towards Ben, who was telling some high school track story Richie didn't care about. He couldn't ignore the anxiety that immediately took over him. _Had he known? No, right? There's no way. Oh God he knows. He knows. He fucking knows._ Richie felt himself phasing out, losing sight of what was happening around him. He just knew he had to leave. He couldn't sit 5 centimetres from the man who caught him jerking in a public restroom after they'd been flirting. What the fuck kind of message does that send? Richie felt embarrassed, dirty, his cheeks going red, he had to leave.

He stood up, muttered some excuse about having to go home and feed a cat he didn't own, and was gone like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this didn't come out yesterday, i've just started my final exams so i've been a bit distracted, but here u go! i hope u enjoyed this im so 🥺


	5. The Dream

Eddie knew a panic attack when he saw one. He'd been having them since he came out of the womb, been bullied for it since he entered school, and finally going to therapy after he'd graduated. Eddie was more familiar with panic attacks than he cared to admit. So when Richie stood up from the booth, red faced, chest rising and falling faster than usual, and barely spoke a word as he bolted from the bar, Eddie knew something was wrong. The conversation died immediately, and everyone looked awkwardly between each other, but Eddie knew he was getting more looks than anyone else, that everyone knew something had happened between them and it had freaked Richie out for whatever reason. Eddie was scared. He hated the idea of making anyone, especially Richie, uncomfortable. 

"Uh, should someone go check on him?" Mike looked awkwardly around the table, being the most unfamiliar with the group. 

"He'll be gone by now, did you see how fast he was walking? I'll call him later." Bev smiled at Mike and the conversation quickly picked back up. Eddie pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted Richie.

**Chef™️:** Hey, you left in a bit of a rush there. Are you alright? I'm sorry if I was moving too fast tonight.

Eddie watched the dots pop up and down a few times before he finally received a response. 

**pretty boy:** haha um yeah im cool. just too much to drink, dont feel all too hot

**Chef™️:** Are you sure it had nothing to do with me? I really am sorry.

**pretty boy:** yeah no all good haha okay bye

And that was that. Richie receded, and the next night at work was sufficiently awkward. Eddie tried to initiate some banter, being his usual bossy self, but when he'd round on Richie for being too slow or too talkative, all he'd get was a "Sorry Chef" as he ducked out of the kitchen. Eddie wished he could pretend it wasn't bothering him, but he couldn't kick the guilt that was weighing on him, telling him it was his fault Richie had drawn so far back. He knew it was him, he's seen Richie being flirty and funny with Bev and Mike, and even Stan at one point, but Eddie was like a stranger to him now and it was heavy on his heart. 

"He hates me," he'd confided in Stan one night, some shitty sitcom playing loosely in the background "I can tell. We don't banter like we used to."

"I know you liked him Eddie but you guys struck out. There's more fish in the sea, don't ruin the work environment over a school yard crush." Eddie sighed deeply, knowing Stan was technically right, but still knowing he wouldn't be able to shake the guilt properly until they were on good terms again.

"You don't get it Stan. I have to fix this, it's not fair on Richie. I messed up, somehow, and I have to make sure everything's okay, because right now it's not and it's freaking me out." Eddie paused gingerly. He grabbed the remote off the table and shut off the TV. "I should talk to him." Now it was Stan's turn to sigh. 

"Would it matter if I told you not to?" Eddie looked over at the defeated stare in Stan's eyes. 

"You're tired, you should go home." And Stan couldn't argue with that. He stood up, scooped his keys of the table and headed towards the door. 

"Don't stay up all night planning your speech to Richie, need you sharp for tomorrow Chef." Eddie chuckled quietly at the nickname. 

"Night Stan."

"Night Eddie." Stan left with a quite click of the door. Not long after, Eddie passed out on the couch.

_There was a rapping at Eddie's door, and he sat up in a haze. Stumbling to his feet, he pulled open the door to see a flustered Richie, panting against his door frame. _

_"Richie? What are you doing here, it's like 3 in the morning, are you a-" Before Eddie could finish his sentence, Richie had leant forwards and pushed his lips hungrily against Eddie's, gripping him by the waist and pushing into his apartment. Eddie reflexively kissed back hard, matching his hunger, the feeling of Richies soft lips against his own a heavenly feeling alone. Eddie tangled his arms around Richie's neck, pulling him in closer and deepening the kiss, letting Richie guide him with his crotch towards the couch behind him, where he pushed him down and quickly straddled his waist. "Richie...." was all Eddie could breathe out before Richie had attached his lips to his neck, sucking and biting rich purple marks into his skin, any skin Richie could get his dirty mouth on. _

_His hands started to wander down Eddie's torso and up under his shirt, lightly running his fingertips up his sides, sending a chill down Eddie's spine as he groaned quietly at the sensation of Richie on top of him, Richie taking him, RichieRichieRichie-_

Eddie's eyes flew open and he stared up at the ceiling, wondering where Richie had gone.

"Richie??" He called quietly, and as he rubbed his eyes he slowly remembered where he was, and realised he'd been dreaming. That's when it hit Eddie. He didn't just feel guilty because Richie was uncomfortable; he wanted to make Richie comfortable, more than comfortable if his dream was anything to go by. He wanted to kiss him and hold him, and having this weird tension between them was not going to work out, Eddie decided, even though he already knew that. He quickly got dressed for work and decided that tonight, he would ask Richie to stay late, and he would clear the air, in person.


	6. Confrontation

"Rich, I need you to stay after hours today. Can you swap the close shift with Beverly?" 

Richie felt his heart stop in his chest. The thought of being alone in this restaurant with Eddie was enough to make him vomit. He nodded gingerly, a "Yeah, sure Chef" breathed through his lips, before he turned on his heel and stalked towards where Bev stood, greeting a pair of customers and pointing them towards a table at the back. When they'd moved along, Richie grabbed her by the elbow and spun her around. 

"Eddie wants me to stay back after hours." Bev, after getting over her initial shock of being pulled in a 180, stared back at Richie. 

"So?" Richie's eyes almost burst out of his head. 

"The fuck do you mean _so??_ I've been avoiding him for the better part of a week, ignoring him as much as I can working so close to him, and now he wants me to stay after hours?? He's gonna fucking fire me, or tell me to cut it out, oh god he's gonna yell at me and make a scene and-"

"RICHIE." Richie physically shuddered when Bev interrupted him. "Shut up. I manage the wait staff, so only I can fire you, okay? And I've known Eddie ever since he started here, he's not gonna yell at you. Go have a cigarette and come back when you're calm. Can't have my best waiter crying on the fucking food." Richie laughed. Beverly always had a way of calming him, matching his humour with her inherent wisdom, and he nodded, knowing she was right. She was always right. 

"Okay. Thank you." Richie slipped out the back door, pulled a cig from the pack he kept in his jacket, and smoked calmly outside. He'd been smoking since he was 10. Yes, he knew it was a disgusting habit, but you don't exactly start something at age fucking 10 and suddenly drop it 13 years later. He knew it was unhealthy, but fuck it was relaxing, and it made him happy. Was there something wrong with being happy? He finished the last of it and stubbed the butt out under his shoe and headed back inside, his head feeling a lot clearer. Beverly was right. Nothing that bad could happen from staying a bit later, right? It's not like he could actually get fired by Eddie. What did he have to lose? His dignity?

No, he'd already lost that.

The night went by excruciatingly slowly. Richie actually thought he was losing his mind when he did six rounds through the restaurant picking up empty dishes and only 10 minutes had passed. But, as time does, it passed, and Richie found himself wiping down the tables, alone. He could hear Eddie and Stan chatting and laughing in the kitchen, he thought that maybe, if he got everything done fast enough, he wouldn't have to face Eddie and he could just leave. But as he had put the Spray 'N' Wipe back under the counter, Stan and Eddie wandered out of the kitchen. Stan bid them both a quiet farewell, and was gone. Now it was just the two of them. 

Eddie and Richie.

Richie and Eddie.

Alone.

It'd be an understatement to say the silence was awkward. Richie couldn't stand silence. It gave his brain too much room to run wild, so just like he always does, he let his mouth start running like a broken tap.

"So, you keep me back here just to swim in this silence or did you wanna do something? Cause I was thinking that new karaoke place down the street looked pretty fun." Eddie exhaled, amused, and stepped towards Richie.

"I just wanted to talk. About us." 

"Aw, breaking up with me? Let me guess, it's not me, it's you?" Richie slapped his hand to his chest, clutching the material over his heart, acting upset. He was hyperaware he was deflecting Eddie's serious tone with humour, but at this point it was a reflex. He had no control over his mouth and the best of times, let alone times like this.

"No, Richie, I just- What happened? That night, at the bar? Why did you leave?" Richie let himself look over to Eddie, and could immediately see the hurt, the curiosity in his eyes.

Too tense. Turn on the tap.

"I'm sorry, I had to get to your mum's house, she'd been ringing me all night begging for my delectable di-"

"Richie." The way Eddie interrupted Richie was entirely different to the way Beverly did it. Beverly's tone was harsh and loud, trying to fight for dominance in the conversation. But Eddie, that bossy little bastard, he always knew he had dominance over Richie. So when he said Richie's name calmly and grabbed his hand, squeezed it tightly, Richie immediately fell silent. "Tell me what happened." His voice wasn't demanding. He wasn't forcing Richie to do anything; he was soft and caring, trying to make this space as comfortable as possible for Richie.

"Fuck Eds, I couldn't bring myself to sit next to you after what happened in the restroom."

The pause was palpable.

"What? When you took a shit? Richie, everyone shits, I'm not that much of a germaphobe, as long as you washed your hands." Richie looked over to Eddie, knowing his confused expression was matching the one on Eddie's.

"No, idiot, I was jacking off."

Richie stared at Eddie. Eddie stared at Richie. And Richie watched as realisation dawned on his face. And Richie felt his own wave of realisation crash over him. "You didn't know that, did you?" Eddie shook his head timidly. Richie had never felt so stupid in his entire life.

"That's why you've been avoiding me, isn't it? Because you thought I caught you?" Richie nodded, staring down at his feet. He didn't think he could actually ever look at Eddie in the eyes again. He prayed to every entity in the imaginable universe to let the ground swallow him up and kill him, right there and then. But before the Gods could respond to his cries, Richie felt a hand stroke under his chin and pull his head up so he was looking Eddie in the eyes again. The look of sympathy, worry and kindness swamping Eddie's eyes was something Richie had never seen before.

"It's okay."

And before Richie could stop himself, he'd leant forward, and pushed their lips together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i'm promising an incredibly smutty chapter next, so prep yourself for that! i'm having a lot of fun writing this so i hope you lot are having fun reading it


	7. First Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so fucking sorry this didn't come out sooner, i've been studying and procrastinating for exams like an idiot. this chapter is most definitely smut so if u wanna skip it you can

Richie's lips on Eddie's, for real this time, felt absolutely insane. He was soft, caring, and clearly nervous, but as their lips moved together Richie grew more confident, moving his hands down to Eddie's waist and pulled him closer. Eddie put his hands on Richie's shoulders and pushed up into his lips, searching for more, and Richie obliged, parting his lips and slipping his tongue smoothly into Eddie's mouth. Richie tasted like cigarettes and the strawberry gum he chewed to cover it. As much as Eddie hated cigarettes, he couldn't help loving the way they smelled, and Richie tasted so good in his mouth he couldn't help but groan quietly. Richie's hands gripped tighter onto Eddie's hips at the sound and ground his own against them, causing both of them to gasp at the friction. Richie took this opportunity to start kissing down Eddie's neck, starting by nipping his ear and moving down to his adam's apple. He unbuttoned the top of Eddie's white chef's jacket and started sucking into Eddie's collarbone, running his tongue across the sensitive skin over and over. Eddie let his hands run up into Richie's curls and knot through them, giving them a small tug that caused Richie to groan against his skin. 

"God Chef you're so fucking sexy." Eddie shuddered at the nickname. He never thought he'd hear that name in this context, but the way it drawled out of Richie's mouth made his knees buckle and his hands in Richie's hair pull tighter. Richie licked up from the mark he'd left on Eddie's collar, up his neck, where his lips danced teasingly over the shell of his ear. "Wanna taste you, Chef. Want you to have your way with me, here, in the restaurant." Eddie let the shock course through him, making his dick twitch in his pants, but his sensible half of his brain took control long enough for Eddie to push Richie off him.

"No. Not in the restaurant. I'm not getting cum on the carpet, can you imagine how many health codes we'd be violating?" Eddie watched Richie chuckle, seemingly undeterred by Eddie's need to be clean.

"I promise I'll swallow." Richie winked, and Eddie knew, in that moment, he was fucked. 

"Fuck Richie," he muttered under his breath, re-closing the gap between them, even hungrier this time. Eddie's tongue was immediately down Richie's throat, the want surging through him stronger than any feeling had ever taken over him before. Richie wasted no time pulling them apart and dropping to his knees in front of Eddie, eyes full of lust and need as he stared at the bulge in Eddie's chef pants. Richie looped his fingers under the fabric, slowly pulling the pants and Eddie's boxers down over his hips, down, down to his ankles, ever so slowly. Eddie's dick popped out of his underwear, standing against his chef's jacket, and Richie stared at it in a sort of innocent awe. He began kissing up Eddie's thigh, planting his lips everywhere except where he needed it most. Eddie was groaning from desperation at this point. "As much as you seem to be having there Rich, I'm gonna need you to fucking get a move on." Richie let a low sound move out of the back of his throat, as he made eye contact with Eddie.

_"Yes Chef."_ And, without any warning, Richie took Eddie entirely down in one go, didn't stop pushing him down until his nose was nestled in the hair at Eddie's base. The moan that ripped through Eddie racked his entire body, the sudden enveloping warmth beyond any pleasure he'd dared feel before this. Richie swallowed around him a few times, then began bobbing his head in rhythm, gripping onto Eddie's ass as he made easy, fast work of Eddie's erection. Eddie snaked his hands back into Richie's hair, raking his nails over Richie's scalp, tugging when Richie did something that felt particularly spectacular. Each tug rewarded Eddie with a moan from Richie's throat, sending vibrations straight through his dick. He felt that familiar warm feeling pooling in his stomach, knew he was close. 

"R-Rich, I'm close," His words came out in huffed intervals, struggling to keep himself together. Richie groaned under him, only picking up the pace, taking Eddie deeper and faster, letting Eddie fuck into his throat as if it meant nothing. "God Rich, fuck, feel so good, I--" Eddie cut off as he felt his orgasm wash over him, jerking into Richie's mouth as he came. He felt the bliss swallow his body, from the choked feeling in his throat down to the cramping in his calves as he struggled to keep himself upright. As promised, Richie swallowed every drop, straight down his throat like it was nothing more than water. Eddie let himself catch his breath, breathing heavily as he came down from his high. Richie pulled off him with a _pop_ sound and looked back up at him. The amount of want in his eyes was unmatched, and Eddie quickly dropped to his knees in front of Richie, pulling by the back of the neck into a suffocating kiss. As much as he hated the idea of tasting himself on Richie's tongue, he wanted so badly to return the favour, and so he licked into Richie's mouth, attempting to keep the heat, the tension, the deep rooted sexuality prominent in the air. He pushed Richie back onto the floor by his shoulders, climbing on top of him and pinning him the floor with his hips. "Want me to show you a good time, pretty boy?" Richie moaned at the nickname and stared up at Eddie. 

"Yeah, yes, please-" Richie cut himself off with a deep, drawn-out moan as Eddie ground into him, hips carefully placed so his ass was directly over Richie's hard on. 

"Yes who?" Eddie glared down at Richie playfully, teasing him, asking him to play along. 

"_Aah,_ yes Chef." Richie bit his lips as Eddie ground back into Richie again, stifling the embarrassingly high moan threatening to break through his lips. 

"That's a good boy." Eddie smirked, leaning down to capture Richie's lips in a hungry kiss, before quickly pulling away and shuffling down his torso towards Richie's crotch to return the favour. He made fast work of the dress pants, taking a moment to look at Richie's stupid blue pineapple boxers. "Really?" He looked up at Richie and couldn't help but smile. 

"What can I say? I'm a stud." Eddie chuckled under his breath. 

"Clearly." And with that, he pulled Richie's  
boxers down past his hips. Richie groaned from under him as the pressure of his boxers was released, and quickly replaced with Eddie's rough hands. Eddie pumped his hands up and down Richie's (albeit) impressively long shaft, slowly, calculated. 

"Fuck babe-" Richie bucked up into Eddie's hand, clawing at the carpet underneath him. "You're gonna drive me mad,"

"Suddenly not a fan of the teasing, Tozier? I'm shocked." Eddie let his hand get slower still, staring up at Richie's frustrated, flushed expression, sending a jolt of adrenaline back to his own dick. Richie laughed, although it came out struggled and tight in his throat.

"I'd lay here all night getting teased for you Eds, I-" Eddie cut Richie off by quickly jerking up and down his length, his grip tightening, then stopping at the base of Richie's dick. The sound that erupted from Richie was guttural, dirty, and it drove Eddie crazy.

"Don't call me that. That's not my name." Eddie's grip tightened still on Richie's base, and he watched Richie's body squirm at the sensation.

"Fuck, yes Chef, fuck, Chef, baby-" The pet names spewing from Richie's mouth were unstoppable, and Eddie figured he'd opened a floodgate he couldn't close, so instead he lowered his lips to the head of Richie's cock. Slowly, without breaking eye contact, he slid his mouth over Richie's head and licked over the slit, carefully taking Richie as far down as his throat would let him. "Oh _God_ Eddie baby, that feels so good, Chef, please, don't stop, fuck Chef," Eddie wondered how many swear words Richie actually knew, and how many he could pull out of Richie. Eddie slowly started to bob his head, but no sooner had he started it was over. Richie spilled down his throat, releasing his own personal collection of swears. "Fuck, shit, Eddie, cunt, fuck, asshole, shit, Goddamn, so good, mother f-fucker-" Eddie swallowed as much as he could, and when he felt Richie was done, pulled off him to wipe his mouth off any stray cum that had leaked out. Richie was panting under Eddie, hands in his own hair. "God, Eds, thats the best blowjob I've ever had, fuck. That's better than ice cream, better than all the food your uptight ass cooks here, I've never felt so good." Eddie laughed breathily, still swallowing in an attempt to clear his throat.

"Don't insult my cooking asshole." Eddie stood from his spot on the floor, finally bothering to pull his pants and underwear up. "You've got a real mouth on you Tozier, you know that?" Richie propped himself up on his elbows, sweat evident in his hair as he made eye contact with Eddie. 

"You'd know." Eddie rolled his eyes, not bothering to humour Richie's quips. "Kids back home used to call me Richie 'Trashmouth' Tozier, cause I never knew when to shut up." Eddie extended his hand and helped Richie to his feet as Richie struggled to pull his shitty pineapple boxers back up his gangly legs. 

"I have to get home. Don't forget to lock up." He kissed Richie's cheek lightly, grabbed his keys and wallet up from where he'd left them on the counter, and headed for the door. "Night night _pretty boy_," He let the words slur out off his tongue, smacking Richie's ass firmly. He turned, opened the door, and was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they fucked!!!!


	8. It'll Be Fun

"Honest to God Bev it was the best blowjob I've ever had!" Richie was practically yelling down the street. Bev scoffed and jogged to catch up with Richie, who had skipped halfway down the road. 

"Shut up idiot, you've said that like 5 times  
now. I get it, he can bone down." Richie laughed more at Beverly's stupid jokes. It wasn't really that funny, but he was in such a good mood that morning he hadn't been able to contain his happiness. "Are you gonna tell me anything else about this guy other than his impeccable blowjob skills?" 

"Nope! You can't have my spank bank material Bev, get your own." Bev sipped her coffee idly, watching Richie struggle with the key to his car.

"I'll crack you a deal. If you see him again in the next two weeks, you have to tell me **aaaaaaall** about him." Richie gasped, finally throwing open the door to his car.

"You're going to punish me for finally finding _love??_ Beverly Marsh I am disgraced." She laughed and slipped into the seat beside him. 

"Alright alright fine, how's this: if you bring your boy toy on a double date with me, I'll ask Ben out." Richie turned to Beverly so fast he felt his neck snap.

"Really? Bev you've been pining for almost three months now." A smirk spread across her face, knowing damn well she was winning.

"Yep. But you HAVE to bring your boy toy. Or- or you have to do open AND close for the next three weeks."

"Alright Marsh, you've got yourself a deal." Richie spat in his palm and held his hand out to Bev who, completely unfazed, repeated the action and smacked her hand into Richie's. Their hands swing firmly, and the deal was sealed. 

Okay, Richie was convinced.

Next up: convince Eddie.

Richie knew this wasn't going to be easy. Not only was Eddie stubborn, but Bev had let slip that Eddie wasn't a very gossipy sort of person. She'd said she "doesn't know if he's ever even had a partner," which was a bit of a red flag coming into this. Richie had wondered if Eddie was ashamed about being gay, or if he was just someone who didn't like that sort of conversation, so Richie had expected it when Eddie had immediately said no.

"Come _on_ Eds, it'll be fun! We'll have drinks and fried onion rings, then I'll suck you off in the bathroom and that'll be that!" Eddie smacked Richie playfully on the back of the head, sliding two dishes over to him.

"I already said no. Can we not talk about this right now? I actually care about this job asshole. And don't call me Eds, that's not my name, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Chef?" Richie had learned quickly that if Eddie was passionate or even remotely angry about something, he was pretty much always prepared to jump into a ten-hour long rant about it.

"A million times and then just once more my beautiful baby-carrot." Richie leaned through the window and pinched Eddie's cheek, scooped up the plates and headed out to the floor before Eddie could start lecturing him about how 'inappropriate' that was, or how 'unhygienic' he was being. He delivered the plates quickly, collected a couple empty glasses and returned to the kitchen.

"You know I could get you fired for this shit right? Bev trusts me way more than your petty ass." Richie giggled at the way Eddie's eyebrows furrowed, his hand stuck on his hip in an attempt to seem angrier, even if it just made him look smaller and cuter than he already was.

"But then you'd have to tell her why, so you might as well just come on the date with me and get that shit over with. She's gonna figure it out, she's not stupid!" Eddie stared down at his feet and Richie knew he had him cornered. Not literally, although the though of pushing Eddie into a dark corner and making out until his lips cracked was incredibly enticing.

"Fine. But you're not sucking me off in the bathroom you horny idiot. And you have to pick me up, I'll send you my address. And you can't fucking tell anyone else, I hate bringing my personal life into the kitchen, I had a hard enough time getting these dumbasses to respect me when I first got this job and I'm not letting some foul-mouthed pretty boy fuck that up for me." Richie tuned out of Eddie's ranting and stared at his lips. His soft, pink lips, moving a million miles an hour around meaningless words, energy filling the air as he rambled on about 'superiority' and 'the work environment' and a million other incomprehensible things that made Richie want to kiss him quiet, want Eddie to pour his passion into him, into his lips, his mouth, his body, want him to put that mouth to some good use. 

"You're beautiful, you know that?" Richie interrupted Eddie's unstoppable ranting, and Eddie's face flushed red at his loss for words. "I'll text you the details. See you then, spaghetti!" And Richie waltzed away, leaving Eddie with his mouth open, and felt what he could only describe as joy. He headed straight for Bev, who was organising cutlery in the back corner.

"I convinced him. He'll come, so now it's your turn. You gotta ask Ben." Bev turned to Richie, her eyes wider than he'd ever seen them. 

"I thought you said your boy was stubborn, that he was a force to be reckoned with, and it'd take a _miracle_ to get him to come??" 

"Guess I'm just that good. You're not having second thoughts on our deal are you? Because I'm about 9000% sure my date would be happy to cancel." Richie smirked, watching Bev panic slightly.

"No! No, I wanna meet him. I'm just anxious about asking Ben. What if he says no?" Richie didn't mean for the laugh to sound so cynical, but immediately knew it had come out wrong when he caught Bev death-staring him. 

"Come on! You guys flirt constantly, I genuinely believe the only reason _he_ hasn't asked _you_ is because he's just as nervous as you are. You're like two little panicked peas in a pod! Now go ask him before I spill the beans to my date about how much of a pussy you are." 

"I'll beat you to the ground Tozier." Despite the malice in her words, she was smiling, and she slinked off towards the kitchen to ask Ben. She came back ecstatic and told Richie he'd agreed so quickly he'd actually interrupted her mid-question, which is pretty much exactly how Richie had expected it to go. He texted Eddie in the bathroom later that night, and the plans were set; Bill's, Wednesday at 7. Wednesday was a public holiday so thankfully no one was working. After going to Bill's the first night, Richie had quickly become friends with the bartender and now the bar was one of their favourite hang out spots. Bill always gave them sneaky discounts (or "mates-rates" as he called them) and would always join them after his shift if they were still there, and he was honestly the sweetest dude Rich had ever met. Richie also knew Eddie would feel more comfortable in a familiar environment and didn't want to push him too much that night.

And now, all he had to do was wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 69 kudos baby woooooo (nice)


	9. Incurable Ailment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this](https://images.app.goo.gl/THNpi6bX2Ahq4ACC9) is richie's car  
[this](https://images.app.goo.gl/iPBsp8eyPPPtm9ez8) is richie's shirt (i own this shirt, it rules)

Eddie had changed his outfit a total of 9 times before Richie had come by pick him up. When he answered the door he was wearing a beige button down and black jeans, finishing on plain black shoes. His hair was brushed out of his face and he had a hint of lip gloss on that, admittedly, he'd only put on for Richie to see if he noticed. When the door swung open and Richie's eyes went straight to his lips and stayed there, he knew it'd worked. 

"Hey pretty," He felt confidence surge through him as Richie's eyes ravaged him, swinging the door open enough to lean on it. 

"Hey yourself. God, you look incredible." Richie let his eyes run back down and up Eddie's form as he stepped into the apartment. He pushed the door closed with his foot and immediately pulled Eddie in for a burning kiss, hands cupping Eddie's sharp jawline to keep him in place. Eddie snaked his hands onto the front of Richie's chest, clawing at the material of his shirt to pull him as close as possible. Taking the hint, Richie moved one hand down to rest softly on the small of Eddie's back, and let the other one to crawl up into Eddie's hair, where he gave it an experimental tug. Eddie immediately leaned into it, groaning as their lips disconnected, but Richie didn't let the loss of contact go on for long as he attached his lips to Eddie's neck and started to kiss and suck at the sensitive skin.

Eddie moaned softly at the feeling, but suddenly remembered they were supposed to be going out for dinner, so he pushed Richie off him lightly. Richie stopped and looked at Eddie. The look they exchanged clearly said _I'm dying to have you right here, right now,_ but Eddie steadied his breathing and smoothed out his shirt.

"We're supposed to be going out, we can't do this now or we'll be late. I **hate** being late." Richie smirked, and Eddie wondered how he could be so disheveled and still look so put together. That's when his eyes landed on Richie's shirt. "What the fuck are you wearing?" Richie looked innocently down at his shirt as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. The black t-shirt he had tucked into some ripped jeans read, in bright red letters, 'Dr. SEX', and had an image of a black and white girl in her underwear knelt on the ground, looking seductively back at Eddie. 

"Just making sure everyone knows who I am." Richie grinned, clearly not thinking the shirt was as atrocious as Eddie did. He wished on everything he had time to put Richie in one of his own, more presentable shirts, but he knew if they didn't leave in the next 5 minutes they were going to end up being late, which was the last thing Eddie wanted. 

"Just- come on, we need to leave." Eddie scooped his keys and wallet up off the bench and pushed past Richie to the door, who followed suit. He pulled the door shut, locked it, and began making his way towards the parking lot. As they walked, Eddie felt Richie's hand brush over his skin lightly a couple times, first over his hand, then the hairs of his arm, until it finally landed around his shoulder in a comfortable gesture that simultaneously said _'This is nice'_ and _'Har-Har I'm taller than you'_. When they exited Eddie's building, Eddie watched Richie bound towards a tiny yellow truck Eddie had never seen the likes of. 

"_That's_ your car?" Richie turned on his heel as he leant against the roof of the vehicle. 

"Ah ah ah, _this_ is a 1971 Holden HQ Ute. It's Australian, and it is without a doubt **my most prized possession.**" Eddie had never taken Richie for a car guy, but now that he was looking at the little car, it was so Richie it hurt a little in his heart. Richie unlocked the car and looked expectantly at Eddie. "Are you coming or what?" Eddie realised he'd been staring at the car and quickly ran over to the drivers side, which was actually the passenger side due to the Australian model, and slipped in.

"Dude, this feels wrong. How did you even get an Australian car out here?" 

"Mate, had it flown over on a couple Emus straight from Down Under herself, what a beaut." Richie's Australian accent was, to put it nicely, awful. Eddie giggled at the comment as he started the car, driving towards Bill's. The interior was a beautiful beige colour, but it was almost impossible to care about when Richie's random assortments of crap were strewn throughout the passenger side. He could see a t-shirt, cigarette packs, and he dared not imagine what was in the trailer if this was just the inside. Eddie shuddered and instead focused on the road, and soon enough they were pulling up outside Bill's.

Eddie could feel his chest tightening as his mind started to race, wondering what Beverly was going to think of him, what sweet Ben was going to say. He'd kept his dating life so quiet and to himself, he didn't want ridicule or anything even remotely resembling an insult about his personal life or his partner, but he couldn't back out now. He instinctively reached for his inhaler, but found nothing but air as he usually did these days after he'd trashed the thing once he'd moved out of his mother's house. Still, years later, he reached for it, despite its consistent absence from his life. Richie seemed to notice something was wrong and leaned over to Eddie. 

"Hey, are you alright? Here," he reached down onto the floor of the passenger side, moved aside a t-shirt and grabbed a plastic water bottle and held it out to Eddie expectantly. The thought of how long that water had been sitting in Richie's car made Eddie want to spew, so he politely refused and instead opted for breathing the best he could. Once he'd calmed down properly, he looked to Richie. He couldn't help the smile that spread across his cheeks when he saw how concerned Richie looked, as if he was about to explode and Richie wanted to tape him back together. 

"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's a long story, I- I used to have asthma. Sort of." Eddie never knew how to explain this story to new people and usually just brushed it off, but he felt comfortable with Richie knowing this part of him. 

"Hate to break it to you sir but I'm fairly sure asthma is an incurable ailment." Richie put on a stupid british-doctor voice and adjusted his glasses as if he were inspecting Eddie, which made Eddie giggle. 

"No- well, my mother, she was a very overprotective woman, and she, uh, made me believe I had asthma. I used an inhaler until I was 18 and finally got out of that house. I still feel like I need it sometimes even though I never had asthma in the first place." Richie's eyebrows were raised high on his forehead as he stared back at Eddie. 

"That's fucked up, man. I'm sorry your mom's such a dickbag." Eddie couldn't help but laugh at that, immediately calming down at Richie's ability to make anything funny. 

"Not your fault, don't worry about it. I'm out of there aren't I? Now lets go eat some shitty bar food." Eddie grinned and stepped out of the car, and Richie quickly did the same, locking the car.

As they walked towards the bar, Richie linked his hand with Eddie's and gave it a soft squeeze; _'It's going to be okay.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case you haven't caught on yet, yes i'm australian. i also don't know much about cars and idk if you can even drive an aussie car on american roads since the sides are flipped but im disregarding that in favour of richie owning a ute


	10. Double Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 100 KUDOS!!!!!! thank y'all so much, i'm so happy abt how well this is doin 🥺🥺🥺 this ones a bit longer than the others, warning of homophobic language

Richie immediately spotted Beverly and Ben sat next to each other at their usual booth, and the second Beverly spotted them she punched Ben and pointed. Ben sighed and took his wallet out of his pocket as Richie and Eddie slid in across from them.

"I knew it, I knew you'd bail!" Richie felt confusion wash his face as he looked over to Eddie, who looked just as confused. He looked back to Beverly, who seemed to find the whole thing very amusing.

"What?" Ben gave Beverly $10, seeming defeated. 

"I bet Ben $10 you lied about your date so I'd ask him out. Poor idiot had faith in you." She nudged Ben with her elbow, grinning from ear to ear, whereas Ben looked embarrassed he'd made the bet at all.

"No, Bev, Eds is my date." Beverly let out a few awkward laughs, looking between the two of them.

"What, you're telling me **Eddie** gave you the _best blowjob of your life?_" The second the words came out of Bev's mouth, Richie knew he was in trouble. He felt his face start to burn with embarrassment as Eddie slapped him swiftly on the arm.

"You **told** her about that? You're a pig, you know that? That's disgusting, what the fuck else did you tell her, huh? Did you tell her about my kinks too? Tell her my dick size? Girth and all?" Richie couldn't even begin to imagine how red his face was, but the unbearable burning of his entire face told him he was blushing more than he had in his entire life. He glanced up at Beverly, whose mouth was agape as she listened to Eddie talk Richie's ear off while Richie just sat there and took it. That's when Eddie's attention turned.

"What did he tell you, huh? You gonna sit here guilty like Richie? Betting on his relationships like it's fucking sport? You know what? I didn't even want to come, I'm fucking leaving, give me your keys Rich I'll drive myself," Eddie leaned over Richie and started trying to fish into his jean pockets to get the keys, but Richie fought back, trying and failing to push him off.

"Eddie- Eddie stop, listen to me, Eddie- _fuck, ow,_ Eddie, stop-" Richie kept pushing Eddie's hands off his pants, as much as he'd like them there, trying to get him to stop. Eventually Eddie gave up and stood abruptly from the booth. Richie swore he could see the steam coming out of his ears as he glared down at the three of them. 

"Fine. Fuck off, both of you." And he turned on his heel and left. 

The second Eddie had shut the door behind him, Bev started rambling an apology as quickly as she could. Richie had never seen her look so mortified before, so he held his hand up, smiling empathetically. 

"Don't worry, Bev, I'll try and get him to come back. Just sit tight, I'll be back in a minute." Richie scooted out of the booth and jogged out of the bar, where he saw Eddie storming off down the street in the opposite direction of Richie's car. Richie ran, and because of his long idiot legs, caught up in a few seconds. He reached out and grabbed Eddie's shoulder and spun him around. "Eddie, I'm-"

"What, Richie? You're sorry? You didn't even ask me if that was okay, I never talk about my personal life with anyone other than Stan, and I would _never_ talk to him about- about _that!!_ Do you have any clue the sort of people who work in my kitchen Rich? I trust about three idiots in the whole fucking restaurant with my phone number, and you think it's okay to rattle off to Bev about how good I am at sucking your dick?" Richie felt terrible, could feel it in the pit of his stomach that he'd fucked up, and bad. After Eddie had only just opened up to him about his past, some weird abuse Richie didn't fully understand but knew was so important to Eddie, he'd gone and stomped on that by blabbing about something Eddie clearly held a lot closer than Richie had. Richie took a breath in, and without permission, saw his vision grow blurry through tears. 

"Eddie, please stop yelling." Richie's voice must've been more strangled than he'd thought, because Eddie immediately stopped and looked at him properly for the first time since he'd started yelling.

"Rich, are you crying?"

In probably the most embarrassing, strangled little voice he could manage, Richie replied: "No," and felt the tears spill over onto his still burning cheeks. Eddie went uncharacteristically quiet, and Richie assumed he'd lost complete respect for him, until he felt Eddie's arms around him. Eddie squeezed him so tight, Richie felt all the air leave his lungs. Okay, maybe he was also shocked at the proximity, but you didn't hear that from him.

"I'm so sorry Rich." Richie let his arms snake around Eddie's waist and held him close, matching the death-grip Eddie had on his torso. After holding each other for what felt like an eternity, Richie pulled away reluctantly and looked down at Eddie. 

"Truce?" Eddie laughed, and smiled up at Richie in that way that made Richie's stomach do summersaults. _God, he's so precious._

"Sure." Richie couldn't help but lean down and kiss Eddie, press his lips against Eddie's soft ones, and their mouths melted together as an unspoken apology. It was a careful, forgiving kiss, and Richie poured his heart into it, and maybe a little tongue, which cause Eddie to giggle and pull away. "Come on, I should go apologise to Beverly." Eddie walked past Richie, grabbing his hand as he did and walled them both back towards the bar. Richie quickly wiped his face of any stray tears as they reentered the bar and sat back down across from Bev and Ben, who looked more shocked than both Richie and Eddie combined. They were dead silent as they looked between Eddie and Richie, until Eddie spoke up. "Bev, I'm really sorry I yelled at you." Beverly's eyes went wide as she stared at Eddie. 

"Are you _kidding?_ I'm the one who should be sorry, to both of you, really, I didn't mean to fuck shit up so bad, I swear." Eddie was laughing. Richie knew he had a soft spot for Bev, regardless of how mad he'd been only a few minutes earlier. 

"It's okay, don't worry about it. Let's get drinks and move on, yeah? My shout." Bev scoffed at the thought.

"Absolutely not. My shout, let me be sorry properly." 

"No Bev I insist, I'll-"

"God, shut up. My shout, before you both sprain your jaws trying to out-talk each other." Richie stood up and headed for the bar before either of them could protest and ordered 4 beers of whatever was on tap from Bill, who grinned when he saw him coming. The two of them chatted idly while he poured the drinks, then Bill helped Richie carry them over to their booth. The three others greeted him politely, although they didn't know him as well as Richie did. Bill promised to join them after his shift, and then went back behind the bar.

The four of them spent the night drinking and laughing, sharing stories about each other, filling Richie in on some embarrassing Eddie stories, throughout which Eddie spent with his head in his hands. Richie laughed along, some of the stories being some of the funniest things he'd ever heard, but he kept his hand on the small of Eddie's back, stroking him lightly, as if to say _I don't think any less of you,_ when Ben piped up from the sidelines, losing his breath from laughing so hard. 

"We need some embarrassing stories of you, Richie! You're new, we need to be able to laugh at your expense." Richie giggled, looking between the three of them. 

"My life in an embarrassing story, you're gonna have to be more specific." That gained a few laughs, the statement more than believable considering Richie's trashmouth and unmatched clumsiness. 

"When was the first time you struck out?" Bev asked, genuinely intrigued. Richie remembered the ordeal like it was yesterday.

_The lights blared from the screen as the game of Street Fighter came to a close. The boy, Connor, stepped away from the machine and smiled sweetly. _

_"You're fucking good." He held out his hand and Richie slapped it, feeling Connor's fingers under his own. He knew it was wrong, it felt off-centre, but it sent shocks down his arm that made him want to sing._

_"Ah, well, I gotta go." Richie, unable to stop his trashmouth and desperate to keep Connor here, playing arcade games, hands brushing ever so slightly as they smashed the buttons, stepped forward._

_"Hey! Um, how about we go again? Play some more, y'know?" Connor smiled. It was sweet in a way not a lot of things are, resigned and innocent. "Only if you want to." Connor stared at him, thinking it over, but when he turned to see Henry and his goons had entered, he lost any sign of friendship _(or more)_ that was there just a moment ago._

_"Dude, why are you being weird? I'm not your fucking boyfriend." Richie felt himself retaliate as Connor spat the words at him like they were venom in his mouth. Henry and his goons stood near the wall of the arcade, sneering their familiar sneers in Richie's direction._

_"Woah I- I-" He tripped on his words, hoping, praying Connor would stand up for him the way Richie would've, but he knew deep in his stomach he wasn't going to. Not to Bowers. Not ever._

_ "What the fuck is going on here?" Henry's voice always made Richie cringe with fear, something he wasn't proud of. He looked incrediously between Connor and Bowers, as Bowers' eyes filled with more hatred._

_ "You assholes didn't tell me your town was full of little fucking fairies." Richie knew everyone in the arcade was staring at him, glaring, eyes as sharp as knives and for the first time in his life he was lost for words. _

__

_"Richie fucking Tozier? Wha- You tryna bone my  
little cousin? **GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE FAGGOT!**" As if on instinct, Richie's feet began reluctantly dragging him backwards in the direction of the door._

_"**Fucking MOVE!**" And just like that, Richie was gone._

"Christ, that's fucking sad." Bev's tone was light-hearted, but her eyes betrayed her as she looked at Richie with what could only be described as love. Richie grinned and winked back at her. 

__

"It's all good! Once Bowers taught me **The Truth** about gay people, I was finally able to pursue my true passion." 

__

"Which was?" He heard Ben pipe up from beside Beverly.

__

"Why, Eddie's mother of course!" That earned a giggle from Bev and Ben which easily broke the tense atmosphere Richie's story had built, and Eddie slapped his arm playfully for probably the billionth time that night. 

__

"Fuck you asshole, you don't even know what my mom looks like." Richie was in a fit of giggles by the time Eddie had finished his sentence, and Eddie couldn't stay mad at a face as beautiful as that.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did my best in recreating the arcade scene from chapter 2 but i honestly don't remember it perfectly. once it comes out on DVD i'll come back and fix it so it follows the scene better but for now it's just my brain. thank y'all again!!!!!  
edit - his name is connor  
edit 2 - i got to rewatch the scene today so i've fixed it up. god bless


	11. Superman Boxers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> richie is horny, and eddie is a sweetheart. thats all i have to say

Richie definitely got more drunk than he cared to on a usual night out; to be truthful, he was quite nervous after he and Eddie had bickered, so he'd ordered a few extra drinks to take the edge off, and _boy_ did it take the edge off. By the end of the night he couldn't keep his mouth shut, talking and laughing without any filter whatsoever (more so than usual), and he was having a hard time keeping his hands off Eddie. He was a bit tipsy too, so he didn't mind too much, but when Richie leaned over and whispered _"Let me give you that blowjob in the bathroom I promised you~"_ Eddie had to push Richie off of him and demand he 'keep his dick in his pants' until they got home.

At about 11pm they all called it a night, and Eddie helped a stumbling, giggling Richie out to his car. He unlocked it and slid into the passenger seat, while Eddie climbed into the drivers seat, insisting Richie was too drunk to drive and that he probably wouldn't allow Richie anywhere near a functioning vehicle for the next week just to be safe. Richie was fidgeting restlessly by the time Eddie had started down the main road towards Richie's apartment, and it was driving Eddie a bit mad.

"Can you please find something to do with your hands? Your car is impossible to drive and you're making it hard to concentrate." This sentence, for some reason, made Richie break out into a fit of giggles. Eddie was having trouble making the connection between his sentence and the punchline until he felt Richie's hand on his thigh.

_"Gladly."_ Before Eddie could protest, Richie's hand moved clumsily up to Eddie's crotch and began palming him through his jeans. Eddie opened his mouth in a silent moan, loving the sloppiness of Richie's hand on him, his knuckles going white from clutching the wheel. He pushed Richie off quickly, and sighed at the loss of contact.

"I'm going to crash the fucking car, dipshit." Richie laughed and resorted to resting his gangly legs up on the dashboard and shutting his eyes, tapping out some beat Eddie didn't recognise on his knees, and Eddie went back to trying to focus on the road. 

Eddie parked Richie's car poorly in his park space and helped him climb out of the small car, Richie giggling like a school girl every time he stumbled or tripped, seeming to think his idiocy was the funniest thing in the world. There was something quite domestic about trying to keep Richie quiet as they tip-toed through the lobby towards the elevator, trying to get Richie to keep his hands to himself as he touched pens, plants and just about anything he could reach as Eddie stalked them through the room. It made Eddie feel good in a weird way, taking care of Richie this way. _This is something a boyfriend would do,_ Eddie thought to himself, and just the idea of being Richie's boyfriend brought a small smile to his face. Well, it did, until they stepped into the elevator and Richie proceeded to press every single button he could get his hands on and laughing hysterically when Eddie started yelling at him.

"Do you want to take the stairs, funny boy?" Richie was beside himself, shaking his head no, desperately trying to keep his balance as they ascended through the floors. Every time the elevator unnecessarily stopped at a floor, Richie was burst back into laughter, as if he was the funniest person to ever walk the earth and the only person to have ever thought of this hilarious joke. They finally made it to Richie's floor, which was filled with more shushing as Richie stomped through the hall in an attempt to stay upright. Richie unlocked his door on the third try, and he stumbled in, chucking his keys in the direction of a table. They missed, and clanged loudly on the floor, which was followed by Richie shushing it, and then giggling to himself. Eddie flicked on the light and let his eyes gaze around the apartment. 

Eddie knew Richie had only lived here for a few months, but already the apartment seemed a lot messier than it should've been. There were miscellaneous items of clothing strewn in the most random places (Eddie swore he saw a pair of boxers on top of the microwave), and Richie probably had more action figures and dumb merchandise than he knew what to do with. Eddie spotted a particular shelf full of horror movie figurines, a six-inch Freddy Krueger standing the proudest of them all, and Eddie made a mental note to ask him about that when Richie was speaking coherently. Richie had made his way to the sink, where he was pouring himself a jug of water from the tap. He proceeded to bring the edge to his lips and start chugging. When it started to spill over onto his shirt like a fucking baby, Eddie had to run over and take the giant glass from Richie before he drowned due to his own stupidity. He laughed, coughed a little bit, and said, in the most innocently joyful voice Eddie had ever heard, _"Water rules!"_

"Alright, buddy, let's get you into bed." Eddie hooked Richie's arm around his shoulder, smoothing his own around his waist, and started leading him down the hall where he assumed he'd find a bedroom, which he eventually did with Richie's drunken directions. Eddie haphazardly slumped Richie onto his bed, then padded down the hall into Richie's bathroom. He grabbed a toothbrush and toothpaste and slid back into Richie's room, where he'd decided to make himself more than comfortable, laid out "seductively" on the bed. 

_"Hey baby,"_ he slurred out, biting his lip. Eddie kneeled on the bed next to him, holding the toothbrush carefully. 

"Open up."

"Gladly," Richie opened his mouth and let his tongue slide out, looking up at Eddie with big, shiny eyes. Eddie swallowed down his hormones and put the toothbrush in Richie's mouth and started to scrub. What Eddie _hadn't_ anticipated was for Richie to start fake-moaning, which was a little too close to his real moaning.

"Richie, behave." Richie nodded his head and went quiet, but he still let out a whimper now and then and still stared up at Eddie with those same lustful eyes. When Eddie decided he was finished, he took the brush out.

"Swallow." Richie giggled as he swallowed the foam down, Eddie already knowing what he was thinking. He got up and moved back into the bathroom before Richie could retort, setting the toothbrush back in the holder. When he'd come back, Richie's pants were missing, so he was left in nothing but what appeared to be Superman boxers this time. Eddie couldn't decide if he was relieved Richie changed his underwear regularly, or disappointed that Richie owned more than one pair of superhero boxers, but walked over to tuck him in nonetheless. Richie snuggled under the blankets, pulling them right up to his nose as he let his eyes flutter shut. _How can this grown ass man make my heart fly so high??_ Eddie tentatively leaned down, brushed Richie's insane curls off his forehead and pressed a soft kiss onto his even softer skin.

"Goodnight, Richie." Eddie made his way out to the couch, and promptly passed out.


	12. Hangover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have officially finished my exams and am free of school forever!!!!!!! i graduated baby!!!!!!!! so i'm gonna have a lot of free time on my hands. no promises, but i am hoping to write a lot more

The sharp blaring of Richie's alarm rattled his entire soul, jolting him from his comatose state. His pulse screamed behind his eyes, and he could feel every muscle in his body as he rolled over and slapped in the direction his phone until it stopped yelling. Okay, hangover, check. The light streamed in the through the windows and attacked the back of Richie's eyelids as he sat up swung his legs over the side of the bed in an attempt to get up, but his stomach got the better of him and he had to fall back against the pillows to stop from projectile vomiting across the carpet. Laying there, he could hear the unmistakable mumbles of the TV in his lounge.

_Someone is here._

Who the fuck was here? Watching television in _his_ lounge room? Three possible candidates: Bev, Ben and Eddie. Well it definitely wasn't Ben; as much as he loved the sexy bastard, they weren't close enough friends yet for Ben to just drop in randomly. Was it Eddie? He had dropped him off last night, so he supposed it was possible he'd stayed the night, but Eddie would've stayed in his bed, right? And Richie was fairly certain he'd slept alone from his fleeting memories of waking up in the middle of the night to throw up in his mouth, then roll over and fall back asleep. So it had to be Bev. If it was Bev, he'd be fine with her seeing him in this state, she was the closest friend he had in the city so she ought to see him like this eventually.

Richie strained in an attempt to concentrate on his body so he could stand up, slowly, without ruining his floor, and he managed to stand upright for three seconds before he was running to the bathroom to _finally_ puke out everything he'd consumed in the last 12 hours. Through the sounds of his vomit, he heard the TV shut off and soft feet pad quickly down the hallway. Light, careful steps, surely Bev. The door swung open and Richie felt a hand caress his back. 

_That's not Bev. That's a man's hand._

"Eddie?" The figure hummed in response. Yep, Eddie. The man Richie was trying to win over was watching him hunch over a toilet with mangled hair and pale skin, looking like a ghost that died in the 1600s of the plague. He couldn't bring himself to turn around and make eye contact with Eddie. The thought of what perfect, squeaky-clean little Eddie was thinking about Richie's current demeanour made him shudder so hard he gagged into the toilet, a new wave of stomach acid and beer pouring out of him like a burning sluice. Fuck.

When he was finally done, he heard Eddie stand up and leave. He took that opportunity to roll over and sit beside the toilet, leaning on the ceramic bowl, breathing, in, out, in, out. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand when Eddie returned with a glass of water and Nurofen. Richie snatched the tablet and swallowed it dry, proceeding to chug the water straight down as if he'd been about to die of thirst. 

"Why didn't you sleep in my bed last night?" Eddie seemed taken aback by the sudden topic change, his mouth opening and closing a couple times before he answered. 

"I- I didn't want to intrude. I've never stayed here before." Eddie's voice was soft and tentative, like he didn't want to hurt Richie's feelings by saying something stupid. 

"Okay, but we're a thing, right?" Eddie's eyebrows drew together. 

"A thing?"

"Yeah, yknow, a thing. Together. Dating. _Sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-_" 

"Okay, okay Richie." He watched as Eddie thought over the premise of dating Richie, which sent a ball of anxiety straight to his chest. Richie knew instinctively that he wanted to be with Eddie and do the whole relationship shamozzle, but if Eddie was second guessing, shouldn't that be a red flag or something? Was he moving too fast? Eddie seemed to be having his own internal anxiety battle, but when he looked up at Richie and smiled softly, Richie's mind was immediately set at ease. He couldn't help but grin back. _God, he's so naturally beautiful. Doesn't even have to try._

"Wanna get coffee?" Eddie scoffed and stood up from where he was crouched on the floor. 

"Are you sure you can stomach a coffee, pretty boy?" Richie's grin grew impossibly larger at the pet name as Eddie extended his hand to help Richie off the floor. Richie happily accepted and was hauled to his feet, now standing tall over the bossier boy.

"Recon the tank's pretty empty," he said softly, tapping his stomach, and started to lean down to kiss Eddie when Eddie's hand shot between them and stopped Richie's movements.

"Nuh-uh, you're brushing your teeth before you come anywhere near me with your spew-breath. You're disgusting, you know that?" Richie grinned against Eddie's fingers on his lips, and before Eddie could react, stuck his tongue out and began licking his pristine hands a mile a minute. Eddie yelped unceremoniously, wiping his hand on his pants before whacking Richie square on the shoulder, unable to contain his giggles despite his annoyed façade.

"You love my spew-breath, don't you Eds?"

"Don't call me Eds." Richie grinned. 

"Yes Chef." Eddie's cheeks flushed pink, his hand rested gingerly on Richie's arm. His fingers teased the skin there, daring any goosebumps to make themselves known. 

"Have a shower and we'll get breakfast, okay? I know a really nice diner down the ways." Richie stared down into Eddie's greyish-blue eyes that seemed to sparkle back up at him. They were soft, pure and wise, like an old black-and-white film about ancient greek mythology. Richie had never sat still to listen to a teacher in his entire 13 years of school, but god he knew if Eddie was talking he'd get hooked on every word. Staring into those eyes he felt like he was already learning more than the shitty American Education System had ever taught him about emotions and love, and although Richie wasn't ready to admit to himself or anyone how quickly he'd fallen for Eddie, deep down it was **love** he was feeling. 

"Anything for you, _babe_." Eddie squeezed Richie's arm, sending an electric shock straight up to his heart, and left Richie alone in the bathroom to make himself at least 10% more presentable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know james ransone and jack dylan grazer have brown eyes but book-eddie has blue eyes and damned if i wouldn't die for book-eddie


End file.
